Short story: Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

The cake is going to fix everything. It’s going to be lemony-sour-sweet with a hint of almond, so that when they bite into it, they’ll think of the smell of summer gardens after rain.
Last night, whilst her parents and her younger siblings were staring, glaze-eyed at the telly, Janey Tillerman sat at the kitchen table paging through the old cookery book that once belonged to her gran. She turned the yellowed pages, squinting at her gran’s twisty handwriting, until she found the right recipe: Lemon Poppy Seed Cake.
And now, in the Sunday morning quiet, she’s ready to bake.
Twelve-year-old... read more

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